Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for the slowing of copies which may be, for example, single-ply or multi-ply printed products which, after being delivered in an imbricated stream, are further treated in further-processing lines.
Published, European Patent Application EP 0 055 405 A1 discloses a belt zone for the transport and slowing of folding products. In the belt zone for the transport and slowing of folding products between two successive stations of a folding machine between a longitudinal-folding device and a delivery station, two successive sections driven at graduated speeds are provided. These consist in each case of an upper and a lower belt set, each with a plurality of parallel belts and each with at least one belt roller located at the front in the direction of transport and at the rear in the direction of transport. Of these, at least one of the belt rollers, located at the front in the direction of transport, of the faster-running section located at the rear in the direction of transport is mounted so as to be adjustable in terms of its height. According to this solution, guide tongues become unnecessary due to the fact that the sections of the belt zone that succeed one another in each case have belts laterally offset relative to one another at least by the amount of their width and their mutually confronting end regions are pushed one into the other in the manner of tines.
International Patent Application WO 94/25383 discloses a method and an apparatus for the correctly positioned takeover of folded signatures in folding machines. The takeover is carried out by a belt guide system on a gripper cylinder. Irrespective of the surface quality of the signatures, there is provision for continually detecting and recording the position of a predetermined signature leaving the belt guide system. At the same time, the instantaneous actual angular position of a gripper system provided for taking over the predetermined signature is detected and recorded, an electrical difference signal being formed in the event of a deviation from a desired angular position, and the gripper cylinder subsequently being brought into its desired angular position by drive devices. An apparatus is also proposed for this purpose.
Published, Non-Prosecuted German Patent Application DE 42 43 222 A1 relates to an apparatus for the transport and slowing of folding products. In order to slow folding products reliably, for example before they enter the second longitudinal-fold former, two belt groups in each case containing upper and lower belts are supplemented by a belt group containing upper belts. These belts are guided parallel to the lower belts of the first belt group at a distance which is greater than the product thickness.
French Patent FR 2 344 488 relates to a transport device for copies, by which the copies can be transported to a folding knife. The knife folder for folding a sheet stack supplied at a position under the folding knife by belt pairs runs at one-half the speed as compared with collecting and cross-folding units which precede in the folding machine of a web-fed rotary printing machine.
The knife folder is assigned its own belt system which runs more slowly than the belt system assigned to the preceding collecting or cross-folding units. Furthermore, two rollers of the upper belts of the belt system assigned to the knife folder form a wedge-like entry nip in relation to the lower belts. The rollers are of adjustable height, the wedge-like entry nip being at least as long as the maximum extent of the sheet stack in the conveying direction.
When folding copies are supplied to the second longitudinal-folding apparatus on the folding machine, the folding copies must be aligned at stops in such a way that the folding knife of the second longitudinal-folding device folds the folding copies exactly centrally at 90.degree.. In order to achieve accurate alignment of the copies at a justifiable production rate, it is necessary to slow the conveying speed of the folding copies, the result of this being to mitigate the consequences of the impingement of the leading edge of the folding copies on the stops. It is necessary, moreover, to guide the folding copies in such a way that relative displacements cannot occur on the belts guiding them, which would considerably impair the quality of the products after they have passed through the second longitudinal-folding device.